Moira Niedzwiecka

It is me that is slow. My circumstances have changed & I am way behind on the build and have no money.

@Ferdinand @joth Quote I had for Sapienstone was from Rock Revelations from Brigstock, Northants.01536 373253 £1830 for 12mm Urban argento for my kitchen peninsula 3100 x 1200 with cut out for induction hob & undermount sink & tap. This was last November. I still am nowhere near getting a kitchen.

@FerdinandI am at work. When home I will find quote & supplier. It is a company in Kettering.

@Hecateh I am at work & started typing my post hours ago on & off & then just pushed send before I had read rest of thread. So glad all sorted.

@Hecateh I had similar, a part of my garden was unregistered. It had been enclosed & maintained by me for 20 yrs ( I think 12 yrs is minimum) & I had had exclusive use of it. Just had to apply for possessory title. Any decent solicitor can do it. Do use a proper solicitor, not a conveyancing factory. It is also possible to claim adverse possession if you have enclosed & maintained a piece of land & had exclusive use of it without permission.

I liked Dekton before I found sapienstone. Dekton is whoppingly expensive in comparison.

I suppose it depends on expectations. My current house is a 2 bed cottage at 79 m2 & is really quite small. I think 84m2 for 4 people would be very tight. @steve77r said there are similar 100m2 sized houses in the area for a lot less than £140k so even if he built smaller it would be difficult to make it add up. Especially as he says one of the main aims is to live in it for a few years & build up some equity.

It is really nice. I found it at Grand Designs last November at NEC. I was surprised but it was cheaper than granite, quartz, corian etc. The liked the 12mm one, nice & sleek & contemporary.

I am going for sapienstone worktops. Porcelain & non scratch, non porous

That's a bit more encouraging. However, I still think the issue is location. 100m2 is not very big for a family house. I think you would be doing very well to do this for less than £1000 pm2 (ex plot cost), even if it was fairly basic & you could do some work yourself. You would really need to nail down costs before starting. Don't forget the ancillary costs site insurance, warranty, scaffolding, skips, utility connections, working drawings, structural engineer calculations, legal fees, mortgage application fees (self build mortgages are more expensive than normal residential ones). As you say yourself there are similar new properties for less than £140k in the area. I think you run the danger of ending up with a house that cost more to build than it will be worth. If the idea is to achieve a return this is not the one.

This sounds like a must to avoid to me. Fraught with all sorts of risks. The plot is cheap for a reason. Do you know anything about the ground conditions or service connections? You only need a few problems along the way to end up with a house that is too expensive for the location. Resale could be difficult. You may be better finding something you can add value to, ie refurb or extend.

@Jez73 Hello & welcome. I work just along the road from you in Uppingham. Self building Nr Somerby. Good luck with the plot hunting. If I hear of anything I'll let you know. Are you registered for Right to Build with the local authorities?

This was all calculated when the stairs were ordered. You give the exact measurements to the stair manufacturer ie the height to the finished floor top & bottom & the depth of the treads & they calculate it. I got my expert joiner to measure up for me. It has worked really well. TK Stairs very helpful. On the top step the caberdeck has been cut back to allow the tread to be exact to the finished floor covering.

I have a double winder staircase from TK stairs Basic MDF & pine. I am going to clad it in birch ply with 25mm birch ply treads.

@lizzie Your house is so stunning I didn't notice any cracks. My house was up for well over a year before it was boarded & plastered, maybe that is why I haven't had any, yet. My joiner friend said after a cycle of all 4 seasons it has mainly settled. One thing I would reconsider if I was ever mad enough to do this again is not to have the internal window frames in RAL 7016. It has been a bugger where the white walls meet them to get a really crisp, totally even & neat junction. I have achieved it but it was a real pain. Mind you, may not be an issue if a professional decorator was involved. Alas, that was not possible on my budget.

@Cambs This is what I have. Very happy, works well.

We were originally going to build using a different construction as we had planned to do a lot more work ourselves. We had even laid the foundations when Henry was diagnosed with cancer & we realised we had to look for an alternative method. We decided on an I joist, closed panel TF with cellulose insulation. Reasonable cost, £64k, 147sqm. Foundations had to be adapted & it was a steep learning curve with regard to soleplate, membranes, ducting to outside etc & all that goes with this method. Ebuild & then buildhub were invaluable sources of info with regard to these details. Structure was erected in a week, walls & roof. This method allowed us to have the seamless vaulted ceiling upstairs that we wanted. It is not finished but I will be moving in in June. It has a solid, quiet feeling to it. Of course, I have not moved in yet & the MVHR is not on. The temperature is easily regulated. It does not overheat, even in last years hot summer. It has never felt cold, even in the winter with no heating, just a bit chilly on the coldest days. This will be sorted with the MVHR & UFH when needed. You do need to think ahead with this method & plan where you will want to hang things & put extra noggins. The TF company did most of the airtightness taping, however, I went over every inch myself & did a lot more. It was worth the time & effort. I think the rigidity of the I joist structure works well, most of the plastering was done about 8 months ago & I have not had any plaster cracks, but I have used 15mm plaster board. I would happily use this method again. It would depend on what was built really, if I wanted vaulted ceilings again I would use the same method. If not maybe ICF.

A friend of mine bought a new build & had horrendous problems. The developer tried to delay & fob her off so many times. She wrote to the CEO directly. He got involved & they ended up buying the property back from her & covering all costs.

Local Authority Building Inspector has been out 7 times so far. Call prior to 10am & he comes out that day. He would not normally visit that many times but he has been so helpful. He knows I am a novice & said right at the start if I was ever unsure & needed advice to call. My build has just entered its 3rd year so I am not taking up too much of his time.

I have suspended beam & block grouted with sand & cement. 1200 dpm lapped up the walls & sealed to the DPM with bitumen tape. I also put butyl grommits over drainage pipes etc coming through the floor & taped them around the edges & the upstands to the pipe 75mm celotex with joints taped. I used duct tape from Lidl. 150mm celotex laid opposite way so joints staggered & then taped. 100mm perimeter celotex 500 gauge dpm foam perimeter expansion strip 50mm calcium sulphate screed. Good idea to take photos & measurements of where UFH pipes run in relation to walls & windows etc. .

Its certainly a steep learning curve. I'm on the nice bit now. The internal fit out. It will take a long time because of lack of funds , but it is mostly known territory & I can do a lot of the work myself.

Wow @vivienz looking fantastic. The speed of your build is breath taking. I have just entered my third year. I am going to grab a paint sprayer from Aldi or Lidl tomorrow.

I am on internal fit out now so looking at other things. There are about a dozen exhibitors I want to see. It is only about an hours journey for me. It is useful for forward planning for windows, MVHR, internal & external finishes & just ideas. I have free tickets & I am soooooo sick of painting It is a good excuse to have a break.

Just made a last minute decision to go to H & R Show at NEC tomorrow (Sunday). Should be nice & quiet on Mother's Day. Any 'Hubbers' going ?

Hi Nick, Not possible to dry line the wall. I will check out plastic surgeon. Thanks.